In pre-European times the Maori used a bird-spear to which
a barbed bone point was attached. Hundreds of these points may be seen in
museums and private collections, and adequate accounts of the methods of use
are on record. The use of spears in taking flounders is also on record, but
in this case the accounts given of methods of use cannot be described as adequate.
I do not know of any reference to the use of the harpoon by the Maori, though
there are in collections a number of harpoon points, and it is thus certain
that the harpoon was used.

In his bulletin on fishing methods and devices of the Maori,
Elsdon Best describes the harpooning of a shark by a Maori at Gisborne. He does
not say that the method used was a pre-European method, but he is not likely
to have quoted the account unless such was his belief. Mr. Best says: “As
a token of what may occur even in these times, a description of a deliberate
attack on a shark is inserted here, as taken from the Wellington Dominion of
February, 1928. Mr. Ferris, I may say, is a descendant of old-time sea-ranging
and shark-slaying Polynesians:

‘Twelve feet in length and over 4001b. in weight, a shark
harpooned by Mr. C. Ferris at Wainui Beach, Gisborne, recently gave visitors
to the beach a fine display of fighting before it was pulled ashore (says an
exchange). Mr. Ferris, whose exploits in the direction of shark-catching had
attracted attention, amazed the onlookers as he waded into the surf quietly
casting strips of stingray bait about him to entice the monster. The shark swam
closer and closer to the harpooner, and eventually came within reach of the
latter's heavy weapon, which Mr. Ferris sunk deep into the great fish with a
single stroke. The shark appeared to be aware of the presence of a stranger
in the water, but in spite of its suspicions it had been enticed nearer and
nearer, making swift snapping rushes as piece after piece of bait was cast upon
the water. With the harpoon driven deep into his side, near the heart, the shark
leaped wildly, in an effort to free himself, lashing the surface of the water
to a crimson-tinted foam. When he tired of his struggles the shark was drawn
ashore and dispatched. The harpooner's nerve and speed of movement were the
subject of much comment.’”

This is, so far as the present writer is aware, the only record
of Maori harpooning, apart from harpooning as a feature of European whaling.
But it is not impossible that Ferris was here following the traditional pre-European
Maori method.

The harpoon-points found on old Maori sites vary in shape and
size but are, on the average, very much stouter than bird-spear points. They
are stouter, also, than the points tentatively classified in the Otago Museum
as flounder-spear points. All harpoon-points must have been detachable from
their shafts when in active use, as is indicated by the perforation which is
always present. There is usually a single stout barb, but there is often a pair,
one on either side, and sometimes two pairs. No examples have yet been found
with flax cord attachment or with the wooden shaft, and we are therefore at
present ignorant of the nature of attachment or shaft.

The harpoon-points here figured have been found at Chatham
Island, in Otago, Canterbury, and Marlborough, on the east coast of Wellington
province, and in the Auckland province. Though familiar with most of the material
in collections in the Nelson province, the Wanganui district, and Taranaki,
I have not seen a harpoon-point from these districts. It is therefore probable
that harpoon-points, if used in these districts, were made of wood and are in
consequence not found on archaeological sites.

A CLASSIFICATION OF HARPOON-HEADS.
Variety 1—Harpoon-heads with a single foot at base. Usually these have
two barbs. Fig. 1 is a fine specimen in bone from Goat cave, Banks peninsula.
Fig. 2 is a wooden (? kowhai) harpoon-point from the same site. Fig. 3 is a
fine bone specimen, with one barb, from Warrington, Otago. Fig. 4 is a broken
specimen from Goat cave, much smaller than the preceding three. The same is
true of fig. 5, from the mouth of the Clarence river. This specimen must be
unfinished, as there is no sign of a hole.

Variety 2—Harpoon-heads with a groove to accommodate
the top of the shaft. Fig. 6, small bone harpoon-head from Black Head, east
coast, with single foot, single barb, and groove which has been cut by drilling
five holes along
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the line of the scarf on the side opposite to the barb. Fig. 7, from the Shag
river mouth, is a weathered specimen in bone closely allied to fig. 6, except
that the scarf is cut below the barb. Fig. 8, in bone, from Centre island, resembles
fig. 7, except that the foot is absent. Fig. 9, from the Dunedin district, lacks
a foot and must have had a very abbreviated barb. Fig. 10, a very small but
beautifully-shaped harpoon-head from Porangahau, is most conveniently placed
here, though closely allied to variety 1.

Variety 3—Harpoon-heads with single large barb and ungrooved
shaft. Fig. 11 is a stout bone example from Waipapapa (?). Fig. 12 is a larger,
but broken, harpoon-head from Normanby, on the coast south of Timaru. Fig. 13
is a similar but smaller broken harpoon-head from Tumbledown bay, Banks peninsula.

Variety 4—Harpoon-heads with a single barb and bifid
base. This variety is closely allied to variety 1. Fig. 14 is a fine example
in bone from Little Papanui, Otago peninsula. Closely allied to it is a piece
of human bone from The Kaik, Otago peninsula, which I have figured 2 as an amulet,
but which may have been ultilitarian. Fig. 15 is an allied piece from the Dunedin
district. Fig. 16, unfinished, moa-bone, is from Warrington, north of Dunedin.
Fig. 17 is an unfinished moa-bone example from White bay, Marlborough.

Variety 5—Harpoon-heads with a pair of barbs above and
a bifid base amounting to a second pair of barbs. Edges serrated. Fig. 18 is
an excellent example of this variety in bone, from Oatara. Fig. 19 is of human
bone and is from Akaroa. Fig. 20, from the same locality, is made from whale
bone.

Variety 6—Miscellaneous. Fig. 21, whale bone, from the
Dunedin district, has been larger than any previously figured, but is too much
broken to be classified with any certainty. There is in the Otago museum a barbed
bone-point of which the extant fragments are twelve inches long. It is presumably
a huge harpoon-point, but no sign of a perforation has survived and the base
is lacking. Fig. 22 is a rather elaborate bone example from Manakau heads.

FIG. 1, FIG. 2, FIG. 3
Illustration
- 67

FIG. 4, FIG. 5, FIG. 6, FIG. 7
Illustration
- 68

FIG. 8, FIG. 9, FIG. 10, FIG. 11, FIG. 12, FIG. 13
Illustration
- 69

FIG. 14, FIG. 15, FIG. 16, FIG. 17
Illustration
- 70

FIG. 18, FIG. 19, FIG. 20, FIG. 21, FIG. 22
Illustration
- 71

FIG. 23, FIG. 24, FIG. 25, FIG. 26
Illustration
- 72
HARPOON-HEAD FROM CHATHAM ISLAND.
Fig. 23 is a whale-ivory harpoon-head from Matarakau, Chatham island, falling
within variety 1, and standing closest to figs. 4 and 5. This Moriori piece
by itself would demonstrate what is indicated by the variety and wide distribution
of harpoon heads in New Zealand, namely the considerable antiquity of this cuture
element. At the time of writing there is no stratigraphical evidence on this
point, though the presence of harpoon-points on what are recognized as old sites—Shag
river mouth and Little Papanui—suggests antiquity.

HARPOON-HEADS IN THE MARQUESAS.
Proof that the harpoon-head is an old element in Polynesian culture and not
a local evolution or invention in the New Zealand-Chatham area is furnished
by Marquesan harpoon-heads in the museums of London, Cologne, and Zurich, figs.
23, 24, 25. These, though larger than any figured in this paper, are not so
large as the fragmentary Otago piece mentioned above, and some of their features
correspond in detail in a remarkable way with features of figs. 1, 3, and 10.
If there is, as I think we must conclude, a close relationship between the harpoon-heads
of the Marquesas and those of New Zealand-Chathams, we must look for the connecting
link in the Society group. At present, harpoon-heads are not known there, but
we are justified in expecting that excavation will reveal them.

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